or legislative delimitation
Process by which representation is distributed among the constituencies of a representative assembly.
In ancient Athens, every citizen represented himself, but throughout most of history representation has been restricted to certain social classes. With the growth of democracy, the extension of suffrage, and the rise of political parties, apportionment had to be methodically and mathematically arranged to ensure that the distribution of legislative seats would most accurately reflect the electorate's will. Territorial apportionment is currently the most common form. See also gerrymandering , proportional representation .